Lost and Found
by Elihice
Summary: Challenge fic. If Fujitaka had been the one to find the cards...


This was written for the Tsukimine shrine challenge. The challenge? Rewrite any part of the canon, minus one main character. I removed Nadeshiko.

 Fluff, mostly manga-based (even if the point of all this was to change canon)

CCS is not mine. It's CLAMP's.

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**Lost and found**

If someone ever asked Fujitaka Kinomoto about it, he would say he had a good life.

He was still young and a pretty successful teacher. Archeology had been a passion for him ever since he was still in school, and had only grown bigger with the years. Now, while most men his age where busy with families, he was free to spend most of his time traveling and researching. But, even if he loved his almost nomadic existence, he still liked to have a home to come back to, and Tomoeda was perfect for it. A large house with plenty of room for his books and quiet surroundings not really that far from the University.

If someone, and many did, asked why he had never married, Fujitaka said it was because he had never found the right person. Sure, he had dated several women, all of them interesting and intelligent, but not a single one he would want to spend the rest of his life with.

He didn't felt lonely. He had always been by himself.

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The basement was a little dark and dusty; he never really spent too much time here. The only reason he was now looking around yellowing tomes was because he was almost sure that book Sonomi had asked for was here somewhere.

Or at least that was what he had thought three hours ago.

Sighing, Fujitaka considered the possibility of just giving Sonomi another book, but quickly dismissed the idea. Once Sonomi set her mind on something it was impossible to convince her otherwise. If she wanted that particular book about toys in ancient civilizations, then it meant Fujitaka had to keep searching. It was really his own fault, _he_ had offered to lend that book to his friend.

He and Sonomi had dated, once. It had gone horrible. By the end of the date Sonomy had admitted she didn't think things could work for the two of them, but that he was still a very nice man she rather be his friend. Fujitaka had breathed with relief. _"I would like that."_

Putting one of Ceram's books back into the box, he suddenly felt it. A small, strange feeling he had sometimes when visiting ancient ruins or sacred places. Like something calling, pulling at him.

He was used to this feeling, but not in such places as his own basement.

Guiding himself by the rising feeling, he emptied the large box and found a small tome at the bottom. Fujitaka owned lots of books, enough to fill two rooms of his house and still more in his office at the university, but he remembered all of them.

He had never seen this book before. He had never bought it, nor had anyone given it to him. It was a beautiful book, Fujitaka was sure he would remember such a unique item. It was obviously hand-made, the care and delicacy of the details showing that not only had this been made with precision and expertise, but also with love. The back was adorned with a silver winged moon, while the front had a winged lion and the words '_Clow_'.

"Clow?" _Why _did this name sound vaguely familiar?

Without warning, the room exploded in a whirlwind of colors. Books went flying everywhere and Fujitaka ducked to avoid being hit by a large book about Inca's construction techniques. After a few moments he felt the wind stop and lifted his head...

...to stare directly at a small winged plushy. Or something that looked like it, because normal toys didn't rub their eyes and blink at him.

"Hey, what..."

Funny, he could almost swear the little creature has spoken.

"Uh? Who are you?"

Maybe he _had_ hit his head and this was all a very strange hallucination.

If Fujitaka would have been less shocked about the small creature, he might have noticed that the back of the book was now empty.

The winged moon was gone.

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"RETURN!"

He held the staff steady until the small girl changed to the form of a card. _'The Mirror'_. Fujitaka took the card between his fingers and smiled, she had only been a little lonely. Of course meeting yourself in the middle of the park was a little strange, but after three months of chasing the cards all around Tomoeda he was pretty much used to all kind of strange things.

The park was quiet and empty tonight. Returning his staff to a more easy-to-carry size, Fujitaka searched for his lost suitcase amongst the bushes and thanked the heavens that he hadn't been carrying a pile of exams with him. If he hurried he might make it in time to prepare tomorrow's conference and make that cake Cerberus wanted.

The guardian had warmed up to him pretty fast. Fujitaka was not entirely sure if this was because of his ability to catch all cards he encountered or if it was his cooking. But it didn't really mattered, over the last months he had discovered it was nice to have someone else besides him living on that house, and that it was more enjoyable to cook anything if there was someone to appreciate it.

A soft sound made him stop in his tracks. Following the sound, he reached a small clearing. A boy with grayish hair, maybe nine or eight years old, sat in a bench, hugging his knees and crying. He kneeled next to the child, trying not to scare him. "Hello. Are you okay?"

The boy just kept crying, like he hadn't even heard Fujitaka speak. This did was not enough to discourage a teacher who dealt with students everyday.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help."

Still no answer, but the boy had stopped crying. A good sign. "Are you okay?"

"...no" His voice, as his cry, was soft.

"Where are your parents?"

"I... don't know..." Amber. The boy's eyes were amber.

"Where they with you?"

"No."

"Did you get separated from them?"

The boy got up so suddenly, Fujitaka lost his balance and stumbled backwards. The boy looked horrified, his eyes fixed as if he had suddenly remembered something terrible.

"No. _They don't exist_."

Before Fujitaka could do anything, the boy ran away. He got up and ran frantically in the direction the boy had disappeared. It was useless. The boy had vanished as if he had been just an illusion.

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The Final Judgment was over. He had won.

Cerberus was beaming with pride, and Fujitaka was, even if tired, also very happy. The third person in the shrine however, had not moved since Windy's attack.

For a second, the winged guardian stared at him strangely, cold eyes fixed on the new master's face. Yue's gaze was penetrating, as if he was looking past him, as if he could see someone else reflected on him. And then, to Fujitaka's total surprise, the judge kneeled on the ground and _cried._

The older man blinked a few times, unsure about what to do. He had expected some anger, or maybe some frustration, not this. He knew nothing about the moon guardian, but he had no doubts food wouldn't work in this case like it did for Cerberus.

 Then, remembering the small pale boy on the park, he made his choice.

 His steps were the only sounds in the quiet shrine. Finally he stood in front of Yue and taking a chance, kneeled and hugged him.

"It's okay, I'm alone too."

The moon guardian just cried harder, but leaned into the embrace, as if he found comfort on it.

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Maybe he should just leave things the way they were.

He _had _thought this was a good idea. But, standing in front of the school in his uniform and seeing some students greet each other like old friends, made him think this hadn't been a good idea at all.

Of course his father thought he was exaggerating. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. Everyone will be a little nervous; it's the first day, after all." Fujitaka smiled, a smile that most of the time was comforting enough, but not this time.

"But they probably all know each other from elementary school and..."

"Just go." Cerberus, in his small form, popped his head out of one pocket. "Isn't that what you wanted? Meeting other people? Go now or I'll make windy push you"

"You know I control-"

A glare stopped the rest of his words. Who could have known his brother could be that scary?

Fujitaka ruffled his hair and gently pushed him. "Just try."

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"Can I sit here?"

"Sure." The other boy was dark haired, quiet, and much less scary than the others.

"Thank you."

"Are you _really_ going to eat all that?!"

" Er....yes. Do you want a pastry?"

" ...yeah, I would like one, thanks. I'm Hiiragizawa Touya."

"Kinomoto Yukito. Nice to meet you."

Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.

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The end


End file.
